First the smiles, then the lies. Last comes gunfire.

Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King

Homestretch on Ye Olde Darke Towere Marathone! I’m actually starting to be sad that there are only two left plus the movie. And there had better be whole bunch of those, too, is what I’m saying, do ya.

If I’m being honest, I think that Stephen King didn’t start leaning into the conceit of this series until about the time that I went all in, and that’s probably the reason I was finally able to invest fully. The more I think about it, the clearer it becomes that the first few books in the series really were still finding their footing, and making discoveries as to just deeply and thoroughly vast the scale of this would be. And it is absolutely, entirely enormous. Wolves of the Calla (Book 5) really brings it home, and fully commits. There has been flirting in the past. Stephen King even wades in as deep as his knees prior to this. But now, it’s a full dive head-first into the deep end of the pool, and it is glorious.

In the interest of staying spoiler-free for any major plot points or concept, I’m going to remain vague. I will say this: start the series and then stick with it. I really did almost abandon ship after The Gunslinger (Book 1) and I could not be more happy to have continued.

Wolves of the Calla, in addition to being plot-rich, and 1,000% invested in the nature of the multiverse it describes, is beautifully character-rich. Fantastically fleshed-out new characters aside, I feel like I am at last one with the heart of Roland, to whom it has been hardest for me to commit. And the hook is in the care he takes for Jake’s boyhood. He embraces his role as substitute father in addition to dinh, and it is so warm and humanizing that I am finally with him all the way.

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